


not barbie

by keouil



Category: Naruto
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Yamanaka Ino-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-15
Updated: 2020-01-15
Packaged: 2021-02-27 16:00:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22269805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keouil/pseuds/keouil
Summary: pretty girls don't kiss and tell.
Relationships: Akimichi Chouji & Nara Shikamaru & Yamanaka Ino, Yamanaka Ino & Yamanaka Inoichi
Comments: 5
Kudos: 44





	not barbie

**Author's Note:**

> heavily inspired by [ this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmH33hsJTvM).

when ino was six, she was told by a lovely old woman how bright her eyes were and how her illuminating her hair glowed in the sunlight and how she would definitely be a stunner when she grew up. mildly shocked, because the lady used some pretty big words her daddy still hasn’t gotten around to teaching her yet, she mustered the courage to give a small smile. if it was possible, the woman smiled bigger and started rambling on about beauty pageants and stage fathers and _my god child, your eyes will be your best asset, count on it._

she didn’t know it at that time, but that was only the first of many more superficial compliments to grace her way.

* * *

when ino was eight, daddy told her he was going to put her in a special school. one for gifted children, he said. that she was going to grow up to be just like her old man and this was a good training ground for her and _not to worry, shikamaru and choji will be there, you like them right,_ and above all - to make him proud.

on the first day, before she even made it past the door, another pretty lady - this time younger, with the most captivating red eyes she ever saw - stopped her and asked if she was a yamanaka. unsure of what to say, she murmured a shy yes. the pretty red-eyed lady smiled knowingly and patted her hair, _you look just like your father. no doubt you’ll be turning a couple of heads too._ and then left with a wink before she could even ask what that meant.

* * *

throughout the years, three words were used to regard her in heavy rotation: _pretty, flowers, and yamanaka._ she was branded before she even knew what it meant let alone work towards freeing herself of those binding perceptions. ino was not that smart, but she wasn’t a slack-off either. her father made sure of that.

and so she _adapted._

they thought she was pretty? well she showed them she could be **gorgeous.** stopped hiding behind her mop of hair and tied it all behind, this way whenever someone looked - they could really look. after all, she had nothing left to hide because everything else had been exposed for her.

it was then she quickly realised she was a victim of stereotypes. being a girl in the academy, she was expected to like sasuke. being a kunoichi, she was expected to sit back and "let the men handle it". but while other people have fought to free themselves, she makes the biggest and boldest act of defiance no one expected her to - she, _like all those years_ , molds herself to her already existing persona once and for all. exploits this superficial perception of her to her advantage.

they have her painted as the dumb blonde it girl, and _embody that role she will._

* * *

missions that require a certain amount of subtlety and charm almost exclusively make up her entire roster. a little game of push and pull, a few innocent feather-like touches, a perfectly honed doe eyed look - and she is in for the kill. for someone who was sent on pretty privilege missions as early as twelve (lord knows how many pyschological modifications she tried to rid herself of that memory of naruto being her body guard), this was easy. this was deception, and no one violated the mind better than she did, after all she is her father's daughter.

and she doesn’t mind. let there be smart girls like sakura who inhale books, sporty girls like tenten who enjoy rough play, timid girls like hinata who are too soft -

but she is **ino**. this is the one role she will selfishly allow herself to keep, away from the prying eyes of a prejudiced society who decided just because she was beautiful the rest of herself was merely a shell. if she was just a barbie body bag, it would be because she chose to be.

* * *

ino is smarter than she lets on, but smart girls aren’t as valuable as pretty ones. and for all the secrets she has acquired over the years - _this is the only one she will take to her grave._


End file.
